Stage 1: Profiling
Task: Who are you, Where are you based and Why are you here?
Deadline: October 20, 2014, 11:59 pm EST
In today's digital world, the first impression people often have of us may come from one of many of our online profiles, e.g. on an institutional website, on LinkedIn, on Facebook, etc.The information you provide in these profiles may very well influence the impression a possible COIL partner may have of you at first glance. Therefore, we will begin our work together by asking you to take a thoughtful approach to completing a profile for this course.
We have created a Google Document for you to complete this task. The Document can be edited by you and only viewed by people who have a link. For those of you unfamiliar with this free online tool, this will also give you an opportunity to explore how it can be used.
To access your Document, click on your name below.
Elaine Soffer
Anita Meldrum
Maryanne Kildare
Shelly A Purtell
Sharon Moran
4 comments:
Hi, Everyone.
I hope more people post in our group fill out their profiles so that I can learn more about you. I already know Maryanne, but it was nice to read her thoughts on COIL. Anita, I was so interested to see that you are already so involved. I had never even heard of COIL until a couple of weeks ago, so I'm sure I can learn a lot from you.
We had some Brazilian students in our program last year, but they were here to improve their English. Then they went on to 4 year colleges to continue their science studies.
Hi,
I thought I posted yesterday, but when I looked today, I didn't see it, so I'll try again. Anita, as Elaine stated, we had Brazilian students in our program. I had 5 in one semester and I must say their commitment to learning English to pursue an engineering or computer science degree was quite impressive. They were such a pleasure to teach and they couldn't learn enough. ShellyAnn, I know exactly where you are in Binghamton. My son is a senior at SUNY Binghamton, so I have seen your campus from the outside. I must admit you have a beautiful view of the mountains. I was there 2 weeks ago, and it was just about peak. It must be breathtaking now. Hope you are enjoying it. Although I am unable to join the video conferences, I was able to watch the recording. I am beginning to get an idea of COIL. Looking forward to learning more. Hope you all have a nice weekend!! On a side note, hope this message posts!!!
I find the newest task very challenging. I am an ESL teacher at a pre-college level. We are housed at Nassau Community College, but we are not a content-driven course. If I think about pairing with a teacher in another country, the most obvious thing would be for me to pair with a teacher of English as a Foreign Language (EFL). The students in the other country would definitely benefit through their connection with my students who are actually immersed in the culture and language the foreign students are studying. My students, in turn, would benefit from the practice they would get explaining to the foreign students what the U.S. is really like and showing them how to use English in every day life. They would also learn a lot about another culture and have a lot of new content to discuss.
Although my course is mostly language driven, we do use language in the context of themed content. It would be wonderful to create, along with my international partner, a course with new content that would be relevant to both classes and capitalize on the double resources we would have at our disposal.
Another thought I've had is that I could pair with a professor in another country who teaches a course on immigration. This could be a sociology professor, for example. I do not think that my students could actually take a joint course with students in college sociology because my students' English might not be sufficient. However, it might be possible to work on some joint projects. The other class could use my students as research subjects, and my students could practice their English by telling the foreign students their stories. It might also be possible that my collaborator and I could design an actual joint course if we give my students a lot of extra support and modified readings. It's an exciting possibility.
2. In terms of geographic selection, I am of two minds. One possibility would be to connect with a class similar to ours in diversity, but in another country, such as a class in London. I think it might be more interesting, though, to pair up with a class in a less diverse setting. The foreign students would be interested, I think, in our diversity, and my students would be fascinated to learn about a totally different country and culture. I can imagine that classes in parts of Africa, Asia, and the Middle East would fit this description.
As you know,Elaine and I work at Nassau Community College in a pre- college academic program, and our classes are culturally diverse every semester. We have students from all walks of life with different socio economic backgrounds, ethnicities and religions. While Elaine teaches the more advanced class, I teach a lower level. For my students, a 2-3 week theme based project would work best. Some possible topics could include sharing ways to achieve their ideal jobs, differences in cultural etiquette, and favorite ethnic food. These topics are theme based in our curriculum, so my students would be familiar with the vocabulary and able to share their knowledge and experiences within the topic.
For geographic location, Natalia de Cuba from Group 1 and I discussed where our classes would benefit most. Since our program can have students from over 40 countries in a semester, we brainstormed to try to find the perfect fit. We shared similar interests in countries. Natalia teaches the same level as Elaine, so their interests and needs may differ from mine since they teach higher level students. As for the lower level, I see Western European countries, the Middle East or Australia as potential partners since our program doesn't have the opportunity to meet many students from these countries. Meeting other students from other countries, in addition to what the students already learn from their peers on a daily basis would be a wonderful and fruitful experience.
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